Mapping human resource capacity gaps in the ater supply and sanitation sector Country briefing note Niger
Human resource capacity assessment Briefing Note Niger Key points Challenges in Niger: Niger is one of the poorest countries in the orld ith recurring droughts, and a high ater scarcity The country s literacy rate is 28.7% hich directly impacts on the human resources development Of the total deaths in Niger, 23 % are WASH-related 1 Sanitation coverage is lo at 38.4% in urban areas and only 6.7% for the rural population according to the estimates of the National Programme. It is extremely difficult to assess the exact HR capacity orking in the NGOs and private sectors There are not enough engineers orking at regional and departmental levels, because the majority orks at the central level The HR competency and capacity to ork in hygiene and sanitation, particularly in rural and dispersed rural areas are inadequate There is a general lack of hygiene and WASH focus in public-sector institutions on regional and departmental levels, particularly in the health directorates There is a general lack of opportunities for training specialists in There is very little coordination beteen NGOs and government departments in charge of ater and sanitation There are very fe employment opportunities in the sector and also very little opportunity for selfemployment Operators orking in the asteater sector are not organised. Background This Briefing Note summarises the findings of an IWA-led study in Niger, made possible through the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the auspices of their West Africa WASH (WA-WASH) programme and co-funded by Department for International Development (DFID UK). It set out to assess the human resources (HR) needs to provide ater supply and sanitation services in four countries: Senegal, Ghana, Niger and Burkina Faso. The study as executed by staff from the Abdou Moumouni University of Niamey and the study as supported by Cap-Net ho facilitated the connections ith the country study team. Situated in the Sahelian zone in West 1 Safer Water Better Health WHO, 2008 Africa, the Republic of Niger covers an area of 1,267,000 km², making it the largest nation in the region. The country is divided into eight administrative regions (Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Tahoua, Tillaberi, Zinder and Niamey), 63 departments and 366 rural districts (communes). Niger is one of the poorest countries in the orld ith recurring droughts, and a high ater scarcity. Ninety percent of the country s surface ater resources originate from outside the country. Groundater is dependent on the rainfall that is more and more erratic and poorly distributed. Access to drinking ater and sanitation are among the loest in the orld. Environmentally, the country is plagued by overgrazing, soil erosion, deforestation, desertification and droughts. It is landlocked and one of the hottest countries in the orld. The northern part of Niger is 80% desert, ith the southern 20% savannahs, suitable for livestock and limited agriculture. Agriculture contributes about 40% of GDP and provides livelihood for about 80% of the population. The majority of the population lives in rural areas here abject poverty is idespread and the life expectancy of the population at birth is lo at 53.8 years. The country s literacy rate is 28.7% hich directly impacts on the human resources development. Thus, poverty and geographical impediments are the to main reasons for Niger s coverage deficits. Linking to this is the direct impact that this has on human resources development. Assessment approach The main objective of this study as to assess human resource requirements in the ater supply and sanitation sectors 2
to facilitate achieving MDGs target 7c in the Niger. In addition, and for the purpose of comparison, the methodology also estimated the human resources requirements to achieve universal coverage of ater supply and sanitation for the predicted population in 2015. The study focused on the human resource requirements from the public sector and parastatal institutions, and the private sector (private consultancy companies, individual contractors, etc.), as ell as NGOs and CBOs active in the WASH sector. Methodological frameork To assess the human resources requirements in sector, in terms of numbers (shortages), skills and competencies (gaps), the methodological frameork, has set the folloing steps to: 1. Estimate the 2015 population to incorporate groth; 2. Determine the current ater supply and sanitation coverage and calculate the increases needed to achieve a) the MDGs and b) universal coverage (access to ater and sanitation for all); 3. Estimate a proxy of HR demand per type of service delivery per 10,000 people; 4. Determine the existing HR capacity in the country in terms of numbers and skill sets; 5. Assess the HR supply in the years up to 2015 in terms of graduates as ell as vocational training; 6. Calculate the HR shortages and assess the HR gaps; and 7. Provide recommendations for the ay in hich training institutions can address the shortages and gaps, as ell as provides recommendations for alternative ays to meet the said shortages and gaps. Existing HR capacity Disciplines to map human resources capacity The study used the folloing disciplines to map HR capacity in the sectors: Technical specialisation specific to ater and sanitation services ( ): a person ho is professionally engaged in a specifically related to the provision of ater and sanitation facilities or infrastructure (for instance civil/environmental engineers). Technical specialisation, not specific to the provision of ater and sanitation services (Technical ): a person ho is professionally engaged in another that is required in the planning, design or operation of ater and sanitation facilities or infrastructure (such as hydro-geologists, mechanical/electrical engineers), but is not ater and sanitation sector specific. Management and finance: a person Estimate population Current Calculate coverage Current Current HR Demand Calculate HR shortages and gaps Current Future Future Future Future Recommendations to fill the shortages and gaps Supply HR Figure 1: Methodological frameork to assess human resource shortages and gaps ho is professionally engaged in management (for instance finance, human resources or strategic managers and office managers fulfilling administrative functions) as ell as persons ho procure goods and services or cost planners. social development: a person ho is professionally engaged in hygiene promotion or other relevant ater, sanitation and health professions in the social sciences (for instance health promotion specialist, sociologist, community development orker). Components of the WASH service delivery pathay The study investigated the capacity of the employment disciplines, hilst distinguishing the human resource requirements for three different types of ork noted belo. Design and construction; Operation and maintenance (O&M); Community mobilisation/sanitation and hygiene promotion. 3
While this study reflects data from the ater supply and sanitation sectors, the research considered hygiene practices as defined by the WASH sector. Figure 2: Boundaries of the Niger and areas surveyed Data collection and Location The study as done considering only data obtained from the ater supply and sanitation () sector in Niger through (i) a literature revie; ii) through visits to selected institutions (Ministry of Water Resources, National Institute of Statistics) and (iii) surveys ithin the headquarters of the eight regions of Niger (see figure 2). While the bulk of the HR information came from government sources, the researchers collected data from 51 organisations among hich are six NGOs, eight private enterprises, nine regional directorates, 24 public sector organisations, and 12 training institutes. Assumptions and limitations The study hinged on a number of methodological and country-specific assumptions: Existing coverage data is sufficiently accurate; National targets and coverage (MICS and MHE) figures are used; Different agglomeration sizes are typically served in each country by the same ater and sanitation service delivery mechanism; a. Settlement sizes above 10.000 in this study are considered urban. This means that the methodologically defined settlement size rural village is incorporated as urban The methodology assesses professionals, hence does not include unskilled labour, household and community involvement. The main factors that ere considered as limitations to the study are: Whilst methodology assigns JMP, this study used national coverage figures: a. Water: According to JMP 2010 figures Niger has achieved 100% urban ater coverage and 39% rural ater coverage, against 73.75% urban coverage and 64.25% rural coverage reported through national standards. There is an enormous discrepancy in these figures, probably caused by differences in definition. This has impact on HR figures required for expansion of access b. Sanitation: According to JMP sanitation coverage is 34% and 4% for urban and rural populations respectively hile equivalent figures for coverage of sanitation are 38.4 % and 6,7 % according to national figures The methodologically defined settlement sizes does not coincide ith those in Niger, here population figures are available according to Administrative Division; The disciplines in different sectors as mentioned in the methodology did not alays correspond to Niger graduate types. Lack of databases of players in the WASH sector; Period of mission (rainy season) coincided ith the period of leave for business of drilling, so these ere difficult to include; Some targeted organisations did not provide useful information, or ere reluctant to provide some sensitive information requested, such as ages and the age of their employees. Sector context In 2011, and as part of government s plan to achieve the MDGs, the National Plan for Water Supply and Sanitation (PNEA) as drafted, hich serves as the implementation frameork for drinking ater supply and sanitation in both urban and rural areas for the period 2011-2015. Notithstanding this plan, Niger can neither provide, implement, operate and maintain all ater and sanitation 4
infrastructure nor can it meet the needs of the population pertaining to hygiene and sanitation education ithout external and financial assistance. Institutional frameork for service delivery The drinking ater sector falls under the auspices of the Ministry for Hydraulics and Environment (MHE). Hoever, the state has privatised the abstraction, reticulation and the sale of drinking ater in urban areas (cities, large and small tons and rural villages) and authority as contracted to SEEN, a private company directed by the French company Véolia Eau. Drinking ater management in rural environment is delivered by private operators and communities. Sanitation is the responsibility of a multitude of public sector actors including the MHE, several ministerial departments are active in the sector, being the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Urbanisation, Habitat and Sanitation and the Ministry of National Education. The Ministry of Water and Environment (MHE) defines, implements and regulates all aspects of and hygiene policies, strategies, las and regulations. It also develops and implements the National Integrated Water Resources Management Plan (PANGIRE). The Ministry of Public Health s (MSP) Directorate for Public Hygiene and Health Education (DPH/HE) is responsible for the promotion of hygiene and sanitation. It consists of several divisions including public hygiene, health education, police health and the public hygiene laboratory. The Ministry for Ton planning, Housing and Sanitation (MULA) is Table 1: Population distribution according to settlement types Type agglomeration Number Population in charge of the design, coordination, control and monitoring of the national ton planning policy, sanitation, cartography and land property. 2010 No No Pop Pop City (> 500 000 Habitants) 1 1 1,164,061 1,453,410 The Ministry of National Education (MEN), through the School Health Office is in charge of the coordination of all activities dealing ith school health, especially health, ater-hygienesanitation-nutrition-supplementation and TSI/HIV/AIDS. Population The latest general census dates back to 2001 hen the population of the Niger as 11,060,291. It as estimated that the population increased to 15,207,065 inhabitants in 2010. This signifies a national groth rate of 3.3%, hich ould provide a projected population for 2015 of 18,797,709 inhabitants hich ill be distributed as follos: 8.1% in the city, 4.3% in large tons, 1.5% in small tons, 5.2% in rural villages and 80.9% in dispersed communities. 2015 2010 2015 Large ton (100 000 500 000 4 4 627,954 784,044 inhabitants) Small ton (50 000 100 000 3 4 210,738 263,121 inhabitants) Rural villages (10 000 50 000 44 49 805,951 948,004 inhabitants) Dispersed rural communities 27,854 27,838 12,398,361 14,583,638 (< 10 000 inhabitants) TOTAL 27,904 27,896 15,207,065 18,032,217 Existing coverage According to the yearly MHE report, the rate of access to potable ater in 2010 as estimated at 64.25% in rural areas and 73.75% in urban areas. The types of technologies ith hich the population is served is mainly of cemented or modern ell (PC), boreholes equipped ith hand pumps (FPMH), stand posts, private connections, autonomous ater stations (PAE), mini ater supply system (mini - AEP), ater supply system (AEP) and dams. In rural areas, cemented ells and boreholes ith hand pumps, are predominantly community managed (55%), hile the delegation of management to a private operator, option of the Ministry of hydraulics since 1999, represent only 43%. According to the third demographic and health survey MICS in Niger: 78.8% of the urban population have latrines, including traditional latrines. Only 38.4% have improved sanitation facilities Table 2: Groth rate 2 Area Groth rate (%) Rural population groth 3.30 Urban population groth 4.54 2 National Institute for statistic (INS, 2001) 5
6.7% of the rural population has access to sanitation The choice of the technology depends on comfort level chosen, availability of ater and density of population. Sludge management is generally not controlled and organised ith the exception of Ecosan latrines. In the major urban centres, a fe private companies offer sludge removal services, but these services are not controlled. In dispersed areas, sanitation technologies are Sanplat ameliorated latrines and Ecosan latrines. In densely populated areas, the sanitation technologies used are VIP latrines ith double pits. National MDG targets The principle objectives of the National Programme for Potable Water and Sanitation Provision beteen 2011-2015 (PN-AEPA 2011-2015) are to increase: The rate of coverage in potable ater in rural area to 80% by 2015; The rate of access to the basic sanitation infrastructures in rural area to 50% by 2015; The rate of coverage in potable ater in urban area to 82. 5% by 2015; The rate of access to the basic sanitation infrastructures in urban area to 50% by 2015. Human resources in the WASH sector Future HR demand For this study demand refers to the ideal HR required to service the current and future populations for universal coverage or MDG target coverage. The basis of this approach estimating future HR demand is to use an estimate of HR employed to serve 10,000 people (HR demand ratio). Per size of settlement the number of main technologies to Table 3: Future HR demand to achieve the national MDGs FUTURE HR DEMAND FOR WATER to achieve MDGs Water delivery: dispersed rural communities be installed as determined to serve 10,000. Then it as calculated ho many professionals ould be needed Management & Finance development 5,262 4,935 1,645 1,097 Water delivery: rural villages 91 61 61 0 Water delivery: small tons 26 17 17 0 Water delivery: large tons 78 52 52 0 Water delivery: city 144 96 96 0 Total 5,600 5,161 1,871 1,097 FUTURE HR DEMAND FOR SANITATION to achieve MDGs Sanitation delivery: dispersed rural communities Sanitation delivery: rural villages Sanitation delivery: small tons Sanitation delivery: large tons Management & Finance development 0 102 51 197 40 56 27 99 108 111 45 58 321 332 134 172 Sanitation delivery: city 601 630 254 339 Total 1,070 1,232 512 866 Table 4: HR demand for ater and sanitation to achieve universal coverage FUTURE HR DEMAND FOR WATER to achieve UNIVERSAL COVERAGE Water delivery: dispersed rural community Management & Finance development 6,577 6,169 2,056 1,371 Water delivery: rural village 114 76 76 0 Water delivery: small tons 32 21 21 0 Water delivery: large tons 94 63 63 0 Water delivery: city 174 116 116 0 Total 6,991 6,445 2,332 1,371 FUTURE HR DEMAND FOR SANITATION to achieve UNIVERSAL COVERAGE Sanitation delivery: dispersed rural communities Sanitation delivery rural villages Sanitation delivery: small tons Sanitation delivery: large tons Management & Finance development 0 204 102 394 80 112 54 198 216 223 90 116 643 664 269 345 Sanitation delivery: city 1,202 1,260 509 679 Total 2,140 2,463 1,024 1,731 to construct this infrastructure per year, the number of professionals required to operate and maintain and the need for 6
community mobilisers. This formed the HR proxy per 10.000. On that basis and using future population figures, the HR demand as estimated. To reach the MDG targets (based on national definitions of access and targets not on JMP definitions), a total number of approximately 17,400 professional human resources are needed to implement ne infrastructure and maintain the existing systems. Approximately 38% of this HR demand ill require skills particularly designed for the ater and sanitation sector, an thus fall in the discipline. In general, specialisations are highly demanded to reach the MDG target, hich ill likely have to do ith the large need for additional construction of infrastructure. To reach MDG target for rural ater 15,75% of the population still need access, and for urban systems 8.75% increase is needed. When looking at sanitation, considering the relatively lo targets, an additional of 11,6% and 43,3% increase is needed to reach urban and rural MDG targets. A larger number of other personnel is needed to help achieve this. This indicates that, in comparison to the ater sector, less sanitation sector personnel have to have sanitationspecific education. The predominant HR demand is ithin the s, here more than 85% are demanded for ater provision primarily in the rural dispersed areas, as this is still here 81% of the population resides. To achieve universal coverage (table 4) an approximate of 17,000 orkers are needed in the ater sector, of hich 16,000 in dispersed rural areas. To reach universal coverage in sanitation the HR demand is much less, but there is a higher demand for staff ithin the social development category for community mobilisation and hygiene promotion. Existing human resource capacity The majority of enterprises, research departments and NGO in the research sample stated that they are satisfied ith the quality of the human resources in their sectors. They concluded that there is a good balance beteen the theoretical knoledge that they receive through training and its application. Young graduates need to ork under supervision for at least one year and the reason for this is that more and more education and training institutions accentuate the theoretical aspects of the training. As table 5 indicates, activities in the of drinking ater and sanitation are carried out by private sector (companies, consultants, NGOs, etc.). The public sector s role is resource mobilisation, coordination and monitoring. Thus, all physical infrastructure tasks, including operations and maintenance, are performed by the private sector. Public sector The public sector is primarily involved in resource mobilisation, coordination and monitoring, and not for implementation of infrastructure or operation and maintenance. In 2011, there as 354 staff orking in the Department of Hydraulics (MH), 81% senior and midlevel managers ith 63% orking in the decentralised services and 75% in rural departments. There are 589 people orking in the sector of potable ater and sanitation in the public sector. In the public sector, sector salaries are governed by government decree. For the past five years, the state has focused on a number of sectors including aters and forests, public health, justice and finance to ensure the equalisation and harmonisation of salaries as there are significant differences in the average basic salaries beteen people involved in the sector and beteen the different staff levels. Salary levels also differ beteen personnel orking in the urban and rural areas. NGOs Only a fe international NGOs, such as World Vision, Catholic Relief Service (CRS), WaterAid, Service Néerlandais de développement (SNV), Eau et Assainissement pour l Afrique (EAA) have permanent personnel orking in the sector. National NGO staff is mainly social development agents recruited on a contract basis and on short-term contracts and most of them, 95%, ork in rural areas as urban ater provision is secured by SEEN. Sanitation in these urban centres is provided by the MULA. National NGOs pay lo salaries and international NGOs pay more competitive salaries but often ork on a project-basis only. People orking for national ater associations do so as volunteers and do not get paid. Private sector An estimated 16,629 people ork in the private drinking ater and sanitation sectors. These companies are responsible for the full service provision cycle. 1. The SEEN is run as a business and it provides drinking ater to 52 urban centres. It has sufficient human resources to manage and operate the full ater cycle, except the company does not have any personnel that deal ith hygiene and sanitation and it is not involved in asteater management. 2. Since the beginning of the 1990s, ith the dissolution of the Office 7
Table 5: Existing HR ater and sanitation capacity Water sector of Exploitation of Subsoil Waters (OFEDES), a number of drilling companies ere established and currently only to companies exist that specialise in complex drilling projects. Salaries in the private sector are significantly loer compared to those of the public service hich explains the large number of job applicants competing for public sector jobs. Hoever, they compensate by offering generous incentives, such as a monthly productivity bonus; aards on the basis of annual income; participation in the capital of the company; 13th month cheque; and alloances. The application of these measures depends on the financial health of the enterprises and applies only to permanent employees. Education levels About 80% of the public service officers are senior and middle managers. 40% of HR that orks in the NGOs sector has a higher level of training, and 60% have medium and lo levels. Overall 14% are trained senior technicians (Baccalaureate plus three years); 61% have an average education (BEPC) and the remainder have elementary education. Personnel is young and 90% are aged beteen 32 and 44 years. Management & finances Gender inequality Male/female proportions in the sector are disproportionate.indications from sample organisations are: HR in NGO: nine omen (11%) out of 81 staff members, mostly in leadership positions; HR in the private sector: 85 (9.8%) omen out of 861 staff members orking mainly as accountants or cashiers in the SEEN agencies; HR in the public sector: 39 (8.1%) omen out of 481 staff members orking mainly as assistants, rural development and engineering technicians. Salaries Salaries of all personnel orking for the public and private sectors, including companies, research organisations and NGOs are governed by the Interprofessional Collective Convention, hich sets a minimum age ithout capping it. Human resource supply to the ater supply and sanitation sectors Type of training and education development Total NGO 48 30 60 90 Total Private Sector 4,982 4,717 5,068 141 Public 257 91 69 25 TOTAL 5,286 4,868 5,167 256 Sanitation sector Management & finances development Total NGO 55 68 34 103 Total Private Sector 698 686 174 163 Public 84 63 0 0 TOTAL 836 818 208 265 institutes Most of the organisations, companies, education institutions and NGOs surveyed in this study ere positive about the HR quality and noted a good balance beteen theoretical knoledge received by students during their training and its practical application. Hoever, young graduates require supervision of at least one year because training institutions focused primarily on theory rather than practical application. Universities and Institutions Several tertiary education institutions and vocational training centres are involved in training personnel. Table 6 shos the current capacity and projections to 2015 of certain institutions training HR for the sectors and the estimated absorption rate. specific related courses are producing feest outputs, and of those only 25% are estimated to be absorbed in the ater and sanitation sector. The absorption in the other disciplines is much loer. The main institutions that produce graduates for the sector are: Université Abdou Moumouni in Niamey (UAM): four faculties, namely science and technology, agricultural science, arts and humanities, economic and legal sciences produce graduates in hydrogeology, electrical engineering, chemistry, agronomy, environmental protection, rural economy, sociology, geography and business management. School of Mines and Geology (EMIG): trains engineers and technicians in electro-mechanical, mining-geology, electrical engineering and civil engineering. Fifteen graduates enter the job market annually in each of the noted categories. Maradi and Tahoua and Zinder: are public training institutions that offer to-year certificate training of senior technicians. 8
Table 6: HR supply over 5 years HR Supply Total estimate of HR supply that enters WATER sector per year Total estimate of HR supply in that enter WATER sector to 2015 Total estimate of HR supply that enters to SANITATION sector per year Total estimate of HR supply that enter SANITATION sector up to 2015 university of Zinder: provides bachelor-level education in sociology and geography. The first students ill graduate in 2013 and ill include 176 sociologists and 170 geographers. Technicians and higher education Although most of the engineers in Niger are trained outside the country, the local training institutions provide education in social mobilisation, management and finance and engineering. Management & Finance Development 54 86 80 11 268 428 398 57 11 29 80 6 54 143 398 29 Practical Institute of Kollo Rural Development (IPDR-Kollo) is a secondary vocational school and trains technicians in rural development and rural socioeconomy. Ecole Nationale Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) focus on training middle and senior managers in general administration, management and accounting. The training is suitable for jobs in the administration and finance departments. National Schools of Public Health (ENSP) of Niamey and Zinder annually train about 20 senior technicians in hygiene, sanitation and bio-chemistry. Vocational and Technical Training Centres (CFPP of Niamey, CFPA of Zinder, do Pat SNP, Sara-Issa Beri, etc.) focus on training persons under 18 years in professional occupations such as electricity, building, plumbing, mechanical auto-diesel, forge elding, etc. the Regional Centre of Hydrology and Applied Agro-meteorology (CRA) is an establishment of the Inter-state Committee to Combat Drought in the Sahel (CILSS) and includes the seven Sahelian countries. It provides training and retraining of managers (technicians, supervisors and engineers) in hydrology, IWRM and natural resource management. le Centre de Formation Professionnelle (PSC) of the SEEN 9
to achieve the MDGs and universal coverage, and considering the yearly supply and uptake by the sector, there is a higher shortage for s in the sanitation sector. This is due to the insurmountable coverage deficit that is still challenging the country, particularly hen looking to achieve universal coverage for sanitation. Only in the category of management and finance does the sector seem to have a surplus, although investigating universal coverage for sanitation ill require additional management personnel. It is envisaged that the relatively smaller percentage increase needed in ater coverage, ill require a larger pool of professional human resources, especially hen targeting universal coverage. as created in 2005 for the training and retraining of its agents to ensure quality service and infrastructure maintenance. Training in Techniques of Water and Sanitation (CFTEA) is a centre of continuing education of the Ministry of Hydraulics that focuses on drinking ater and sanitation training. school of Mines from the Air (EMAIR) as created in 1975 and trains medium-level officials in the s of public orks, drilling, mining and quarries. Input from other educational sectors While the supply of training is limited, some private and state institutions offer training in s related to, such as soil sciences, through the Faculty of Agronomy of the University Abdou Moumouni de Niamey. The folloing courses are taught: analytical chemistry, general sociology, general ecology, hydrology and hydrogeology, rural sociology, general hydraulics and IWRM. Several private higher and secondary training institutions provide training related to ater and includes human resource management (HRM), finance and accounting and project management. Each year an estimated 300 master-level students graduate from these institutions. There are three public health private schools (IPSP, ESPAS, ISS) that train sanitation and hygiene technicians and laboratory assistants (biochemists). Human resources shortages: comparing HR demand ith capacity and supply Overall, it can be seen that in order Public training institutions Seventy percent of engineers are trained abroad There are insufficient training facilities, such as premises, equipment and laboratory consumables Young graduates are not sufficiently integrated into the sector There are no regulations in place pertaining to service providers and thus anyone can operate in the sector and commercial companies often operate in competition to NGOs private sector Commercial companies often fail or run out of high-performance materials for their research and/or equipment for their drilling operations The companies also lack permanent staff Companies that ork in the sector are often not specialised in. NGOs and Associations NGOs and Associations struggle to 10
Table7: Human resources shortages (negative indicates oversupply) HR shortages MANAGEMENT & FINANCE WATER SECTOR HR shortage to achieve MDG HR shortage to achieve universal coverage SANITATION SECTOR HR shortage to achieve MDGs HR shortage to achieve universal coverage attract qualified, permanent staff and there is thus very little specialisation in the NGO sector. NGOs and enterprises do not alays have necessary financial capacity to employ sufficient numbers of personnel. This constitutes an important limitation in their interventions. Also, the lack of government interest in rural sanitation and the difficult geographic terrain orks against sanitation provision. SEEN does not focus on sanitation, hich is another reason for the lo coverage. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 46-135 -3,694 783 1,437 1,149-3,233 1,058 180 271-94 572 1,250 1,503 418 1,438 Recommendations for meeting human resource needs To meet the MDG targets by 2015 is already considered unrealistic. The implementation of folloing recommendations is essential if Niger is to progress toards universal coverage. The study shos the considerable effort that the Niger government is making in terms of training human resources to achieve the MDGs. Despite these efforts, it is clear that emphasis should be placed on the collaboration of state, the private sector and NGOs to do hatever is necessary to have the right professional capacity to support the implementation of improved services, and thus make progress to attain targets in the future. To address these shortcomings, it is necessary to: Set up, at ministerial level, a national directory and human resources monitoring system for the sector a. Produce an updated database of the staff orking in state structures b, Update the data pertaining to companies orking in the sector The capacity of the directors and senior staff of state structures should be improved in order to better manage their personnel Provide incentives for employees (public, private and NGOs) to ork in rural areas, especially remote ones Reorganise people ho ork in the private sector into legally- Difficulties for professional staff in rural areas sector salaries in the rural areas are loer than for the same position in an urban area. This mitigates against qualified staff choosing to ork in the rural areas. The biggest HR need is seen in scattered rural communities here social development orkers are needed. The Public Health Ministry is responsible for health and hygiene promotion and public health in rural areas. The staff category for health and hygiene HR shoed a serious lack of a frameork to attract orkers to the social development sector. 11
recognised corporations Embark recruiting qualified engineers to fill vacant positions at regional and departmental directorates Promote and encourage the emergence of companies that ant to specialise in the sector Capacity-building of NGOs and design offices Strengthen rural and decentralised community capacity to manage their ater and sanitation schemes Encourage and support training institutions to open up more opportunities in training Create an enabling environment for students to enter the through, for instance, a student scholarship scheme Reduce or subsidise the training costs in the Promote proximity development services (artisans for repairing, plumbing, diving, building etc.) in isolated areas here access to drinking ater is a major difficulty The state must assure an enabling environment for people to access information to promote effective engagement of all actors, including civil society, private sector and the public administration, by applying the ordinance related to the access to information adopted in 2010 Lobby government to include the education and training sectors in it priorities to ensure that institutions have sufficient resources to provide services Encourage omen to enter the sector through scholarships at education and training institutions Encourage alignment beteen sectors a. Encourage collaboration beteen public and private sectors, NGO on the one hand, and training institutions on the other to better align service provision ith market demands b. Identify the needs in researchdevelopment, and training courses for learners and align education and training ith these demands. Full references are noted in the full country assessment reports available at.iahq.org/hrcapacity This document is an output from a project made possible by the generous support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The vies expressed are not necessarily those of USAID, the United States Government or the International Water Association. Data collected 2011-2012, report published April 2013